Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Philippians 1:2
Officiant O
God, make speed to save us.
People O
Lord, make haste to help us.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
Alleluia.
O gracious light,
pure brightness of the everliving
Father in heaven,
O Jesus Christ, holy and blessed!
Now as
we come to the setting of the sun,
and our eyes behold the vesper
light,
we sing your praises, O God: Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit.
You are worthy at all times to be praised by happy
voices,
O Son of God, O Giver of Life,
and to be glorified
through all the worlds.
Rescue me from my enemies, O God; *
protect me from
those who rise up against me.
Rescue me from evildoers *
and save me from those who
thirst for my blood.
See how they lie in wait for my life,
how the mighty
gather together against me; *
not for any offense or fault of
mine, O LORD.
Not because of any guilt of mine *
they run and
prepare themselves for battle.
Rouse yourself, come to my side, and see; *
for you,
LORD God of hosts, are Israel’s God.
Awake, and punish all the ungodly; *
show no mercy to
those who are faithless and evil.
They go to and fro in the evening; *
they snarl like
dogs and run about the city.
Behold, they boast with their mouths,
and taunts are
on their lips; *
“For who,” they say, “will hear
us?”
But you, O LORD, you laugh at them; *
you laugh all
the ungodly to scorn.
My eyes are fixed on you, O my Strength; *
for you, O
God, are my stronghold.
My merciful God comes to meet me; *
God will let me
look in triumph on my enemies.
Slay them, O God, lest my people forget; *
send them
reeling by your might
and put them down, O Lord our shield.
For the sins of their mouths, for the words of their
lips,
for the cursing and lies that they utter, *
let them be
caught in their pride.
Make an end of them in your wrath; *
make an end of
them, and they shall be no more.
Let everyone know that God rules in Jacob, *
and to
the ends of the earth.
They go to and fro in the evening; *
they snarl like
dogs and run about the city.
They forage for food, *
and if they are not filled,
they howl.
For my part, I will sing of your strength; *
I will
celebrate your love in the morning;
For you have become my stronghold, *
a refuge in the
day of my trouble.
To you, O my Strength, will I sing; *
for you, O God,
are my stronghold and my merciful God.
O God, you have cast us off and broken us; *
you have
been angry;
oh, take us back to you again.
You have shaken the earth and split it open; *
repair
the cracks in it, for it totters.
You have made your people know hardship; *
you have
given us wine that makes us stagger.
You have set up a banner for those who fear you, *
to
be a refuge from the power of the bow.
Save us by your right hand and answer us, *
that
those who are dear to you may be delivered.
God spoke from his holy place and said: *
“I
will exult and parcel out Shechem;
I will divide the valley of
Succoth.
Gilead is mine and Manasseh is mine; *
Ephraim is my
helmet and Judah my scepter.
Moab is my wash-basin,
on Edom I throw down my sandal
to claim it, *
and over Philistia will I shout in triumph.”
Who will lead me into the strong city? *
who will
bring me to Edom?
Have you not cast us off, O God? *
you no longer go
out, O God, with our armies.
Grant us your help against the enemy, *
for vain is
the help of man.
With God we will do valiant deeds, *
and he shall
tread our enemies under foot.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
A Reading from the Letter to the Galatians.
You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly exhibited as crucified! The only thing I want to learn from you is this: Did you receive the Spirit by doing the works of the law or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? Having started with the Spirit, are you now ending with the flesh? Did you experience so much for nothing? —if it really was for nothing. Well then, does God supply you with the Spirit and work miracles among you by your doing the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard?
Just as Abraham “believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,” so, you see, those who believe are the descendants of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, declared the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “All the Gentiles shall be blessed in you.” For this reason, those who believe are blessed with Abraham who believed. For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the things written in the book of the law.” Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law; for “The one who is righteous will live by faith.” But the law does not rest on faith; on the contrary, “Whoever does the works of the law will live by them.” Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”— in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
The Word of the
Lord.
Thanks be to God.
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my
spirit rejoices in God my Savior; *
for he has looked with favor
on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:
*
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his
Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him *
in every
generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm, *
he has
scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, *
and
has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things, *
and the
rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel, *
for
he has remembered his promise of mercy,
The promise he made to our fathers, *
to Abraham and
his children for ever.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
I believe in God, the Father
almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus
Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the power of
the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered
under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He
descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again.
He
ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of the
Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I
believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the
communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the
resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
Officiant The
Lord be with you.
People And
also with you.
Officiant Let
us pray.
Our Father, who art in
heaven,
hallowed be thy Name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will
be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our
daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive
those
who trespass against us.
And lead us not into
temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the
kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.
That this evening may be
holy, good, and peaceful.
We entreat you, O Lord.
That your holy angels may
lead us in paths of peace and goodwill,
We entreat you, O Lord.
That we may be pardoned
and forgiven for our sins and offenses,
We entreat you, O Lord.
That there may be peace to
your Church and to the whole world,
We entreat you, O Lord.
That we may depart this
life in your faith and fear, and not be condemned before the great
judgment seat of Christ,
We entreat you, O Lord.
That we may be bound
together by your Holy Spirit in the communion of all your saints,
entrusting one another and all our life to Christ,
We entreat you,
O Lord.
O God, your never-failing providence sets in order all things both in heaven and earth: Put away from us, we entreat you, all hurtful things, and give us those things which are profitable for us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Most holy God, the source of all good desires, all right judgments, and all just works: Give to us, your servants, that peace which the world cannot give, so that our minds may be fixed on the doing of your will, and that we, being delivered from the fear of all enemies, may live in peace and quietness; through the mercies of Christ Jesus our Savior. Amen.
O God and Father of all, whom the whole heavens adore: Let the whole earth also worship you, all nations obey you, all tongues confess and bless you, and men and women everywhere love you and serve you in peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Let us pray now for our own needs and those of others.
Almighty God, you have given us grace at this time with one accord to make our common supplication to you; and you have promised through your well-beloved Son that when two or three are gathered together in his Name you will be in the midst of them: Fulfill now, O Lord, our desires and petitions as may be best for us; granting us in this world knowledge of your truth, and in the age to come life everlasting. Amen.
Let us bless the
Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Glory to God whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine: Glory to him from generation to generation in the Church, and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever. Amen.
Ephesians 3:20,21